EL COBRE, Cuba -- Fidel Castro stood for election Sunday in parliamentary balloting that the Cuban president has called a referendum on the nation's socialist system.

State-owned Radio Rebelde spent
the day broadcasting American-style election reports from correspondents all over the island. From each province, the correspondents (often election committee members themselves) broadcast interviews with individuals who were at once voters, candidates and undisputed winners in Sunday's election for the 601-seat legislature.

One of those interviewed was Castro himself. Just days before Pope John Paul II's visit to Cuba, Castro voted in the precinct of El Cobre in eastern Cuba -- home to the shrine of Cuba's patron saint, Our Lady of Charity, and for Catholics one of the most venerated places on the island. A Radio Rebelde reporter said Castro voted there ``because of the significance this place has for him,'' but she did not elaborate further. She also pointed out that Raul Castro voted in nearby Mayari, where a woman whose life he saved 40 years ago during a Batista bombing raid had come to greet him.

`Voted as a patriot'

As he stepped behind a red curtain to fill out his ballot in a scene televised nationwide, thousands chanted and cheered in the streets outside.

Grinning as he spoke outside the polling station, the 71-year-old leader refused to say how he had voted: ``The vote is secret.'' But, he added, ``I voted as a patriot and revolutionary.''

Calling the process ``a civic fiesta of patriotism and democracy,'' the Radio Rebelde correspondents gave spirited reports of voter turnout, even from remote places such as an island off Cienaga de Zapata, where a precinct was set up for fishermen at sea to vote. Between reports, the correspondents urged people to take their identity cards to precincts and issue ``a vote of unity.''

As of midday Sunday, nearly 83 percent of Cuba's 7.8 million voters had cast their ballots, the National Electoral Commission said. The 82.88 percent turnout under rainy skies was ``as expected,'' a commission member told Radio Rebelde.

The election, Castro had noted before Sunday, was like no other in the world: There were no opposition candidates running for seats in the legislature, known as the National Assembly of People's Power. The island's voters could choose some or all of the five candidates listed on the ballots in their districts.

Equal opportunities

Nor was there any personal campaigning. Brief biographies of the candidates were posted on the walls of polling places along with black-and-white photos.

Instead, pro-government news media bombarded Cubans with calls for a ``united vote'' in which every candidate would receive every possible vote.

In the weeks leading up to the election, Castro said it would demonstrate the unity of the Cuban people and send ``a message to the world and to the illusions of imperialists and reactionaries.''

The assembly usually meets briefly three times a year. It approves laws and is responsible for electing Cuba's Cabinet, including Castro himself as president. Members serve for four years.

While not all 601 candidates were members of the Communist Party, all support the government's policies.

Roughly half came from regional assemblies whose candidates were chosen in neighborhood meetings. The other half were chosen by the party or pro-government organizations.